Few nonprofits reaping benefits of license-plate program
| • | Want one? Go to satellite city halls |
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
A 3-year-old city program to help nonprofit groups earn money by selling special license plates raised more than $55,000 last year, but the bulk of the money went to only a handful of organizations that marketed the program successfully.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Many others didn't make enough money to match the initial start-up costs of the program, participants said.
Nathan Natori, head of the Iolani School alumni association, said the special license plate has helped him become a safer driver "because if I cut someone off or something, everybody will instantly know what school I went to." He added that the 41 distributed plates are enough to provide a steady income to Iolani.
City officials said 2,759 license plates for nonprofit groups were in use at the start of this year under the program.
A few groups, such as Bishop Museum, Honolulu Fire Department's Firemen's Fund and the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education, persuaded hundreds of members and supporters to sign up for the special plates and have received upward of $10,000 yearly in return.
More than a dozen other groups, however, have sold fewer than 50 of the license plates, well below the break-even amount that city officials said would cover their costs to create and distribute the special plates.
"It seemed like a great idea at the time, but it hasn't worked out as well as we thought it would," said David Nakada, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Hawai'i, which has sold just 11 license plates featuring the club logo.
The program began in 2000 after the Legislature, at the urging of Reps. Ken Hiraki, D-28th (Iwilei, Downtown, Makiki), and K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), championed a bill modeled after a similar program in Florida.
Under the statewide Hawai'i program, vehicle owners pay $30.50 the first year and $25 each year thereafter to receive one of the special license plates, which have the traditional Hawai'i rainbow and colors, but leave room for a decal of the individual group's logo on the left side of the plate.
Number of special license plates for nonprofit programs statewide as of Jan. 2:
The nonprofit group receives $20 per year for each plate sold. The rest of the money goes to the county for administrative costs.
Who's selling the most?
"It's been great for us," said Marilyn Cristofori, executive director of the Hawai'i Alliance for Arts Education, which has more than 380 license plates in distribution this year. "It's a great way to make some money, support the arts and act like a moving billboard for our cause."
One key to a successful program has been intense marketing by the nonprofit group to its members and supporters.
Bishop Museum, which was one of the first to embrace the idea, receives almost $12,000 a year from the program. It aggressively promoted the idea with a mailing to 8,000 supporters that included a copy of the application that vehicle owners could take directly to satellite city halls to obtain the license plate, said Denise Hayashi, vice president for corporate and public affairs.
The museum's license plate features a Laura Mueller design that combines a honu, or sea turtle, to represent the environment; a voyaging canoe sail, to show commitment to Hawaiian and Polynesian culture; and a hand reaching out to represent the museum's educational programs, Hayashi said.
"We wanted something that would stand out nicely and be instantly recognized from a distance," she said.
In all, the museum spent about $3,000 for the license plate design and to promote the program, but once that was paid for all the other income goes directly into museum operations, she said.
Nathan Natori, head of the Iolani School alumni association, said the 41 license plates in distribution with a special Clarence Lee-designed school logo, are enough to recover the initial costs of the program and to provide a steady income, which is turned over to the school's operating fund.
"It's very recognizable," he said. "It's helped me to be a safer driver because if I cut someone off or something, everybody will instantly know what school I went to."
Nakada, the Boys & Girls club leader, said part of the frustration for many small groups has been the program requirement that individual car owners go directly to city offices to request the license plate rather than obtain it through the nonprofit group.
"That's made it a little more difficult, even for people who want to help. It's a nominal fee, but you still have to take the initiative," he said.
Natori said another problem is that city privacy rules forbid telling even the member organization who has purchased one of their plates.
"We'd like to be able to send them a thank you, but sometimes we don't even know who they are," he said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Want one? Go to satellite city halls
Officials say the special nonprofit license plates are available statewide at all satellite city halls in Honolulu and at regular licensing outlets in other counties.
Vehicle owners should fill out the one-page application and designate the name of the organization they want to help. Samples of all the nonprofit license plate designs are available for viewing.
The plates cost $30.50 for the first year and $25 for subsequent years, in addition to regular vehicle registration fees.
Officials also have issued nearly 28,000 other patriotic "America United" license plates under the same law allowing the nonprofit license plates, said Honolulu spokeswoman Carol Costa.
Those license plates, with a distinctive red, white and blue logo, cost $5.50 and do not generate any revenue for a group. "We just did it as a way for people to show their patriotism," Costa said.
Correction: Special nonprofit license plates are available statewide and cost $30.50 the first year. A previous version of this story contained incorrect information.
